Tanus is playing on loan in Jukurit from Tappara. This was his fourth game in Jukurit and the loan starts to look like a smart move since there was no space for Tanus in a stacked Tappara team, and there was nothing more to prove in Mestis either. In Jukurit, Tanus has chance to play in Liiga and get some pretty good minutes. Today he played around 15 minutes playing as third line center as well as being part of Jukurit’s second power play unit.

Tanus is small and that causes the expected problems in board battles, but he competes hard and his size doesn’t stop him from trying. His skating could also be better for a player of his size. Anyway he is already starting to show the good parts of his game even in Liiga pace. He is a natural playmaker and in that area he already shows a lot of promise. He also made his first career Liiga point in this game giving excellent primary assist from behind the net showcasing his fantastic passing abilities.

Tanus is skilled and he can dangle efficiently even in tight spaces. His defensive game is also surprisingly mature and his effort helped his team in the own end. He has very good hockey sense and combined with his above average skill level, I think he has proven that he belongs to Liiga.

Tanus was back playing with Tappara’s U20 team despite his excellent start with LeKi in Mestis, where the 5’8” center has put up 30 points in 23 games. Tanus was centering Tappara’s first line and was positioned at the right side on the power play, and he managed to score both of his team’s goals.

Tanus showcased very good hockey sense. He was driving the play at even strength and showed flashes of high-end skill and puck-handling ability. Tanus is primarily a playmaker, but he has really improved his shot and his finishing ability. He was protecting the puck rather well for a 5’8” forward, which resulted in him drawing two penalties. He played a mature game and was reliable defensively, even though he made one critical error with the puck which ended up resulting in a goal for JYP. The two things that held Tanus from being selected in his first year of draft-eligibility are his tiny stature and lack of high-end skating. He did not look slow, but he does not have the blazing speed that you would hope from a player his size.

Small centerman played for 19,5 minutes and played also in power play and penalty kill. He got primary assist to both goals made by his team in 2-1 overtime victory against Lukko.

Tanus certainly has nice offensive skill set. He is extremely good passer able to give tape to tape passes without even looking at target. He has very good poise and he is able to carry the puck even in tight spaces. He didn’t carry the puck when it wasn’t necessary and he has become better at recognizing when to keep it simple and when to dangle. However he could improve his shot. Also Tanus only has average top speed and he needs to work hard to keep up the pace but his acceleration and edge work are excellent. These assets makes him dangerous offensive player.

The biggest problem with Tanus is obviously his lack of size. While he is skilled, it is fairly easy to knock him off the puck. He also shies away in physical battles which causes problems near the board and in front of goal. Even though he is small, I would like to see him become much more physical instead of relying solely on his positioning, even though he excels in that area thanks to his good hockey sense. Tanus also has good work ethic, he constantly checks and helps defense when necessary making him reliable player at the own end too.

In the first period Tanus was relatively invisible with Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Sampo Ranta, but he made a few solid defensive plays and positioned himself well in the neutral zone. He blocked a shot in the late first and limped to the locker room, but returned to the second period.

Tanus was in the first powerplay unit as a fourth forward and delivered the puck to the attacking zone. He flashed his offensive skills couple of times by dangling through the Canadian defense and drawing two penalties. He also didn’t hesitate to use his snappy wrist shot.

While being less on the puck during full-strength, Tanus improved his game step by step and kept the plays simple enough. He utilized his playmaking abilites especially on the powerplay. Picked up minutes also on penalty killing by covering passing and shooting lanes.

Young forward had a two-point afternoon against TPS. First point was a great pass on 2 on 1 and another one was a nice shot to top corner.

Tanus is an undersized center who already has occasional problems due to his lack of size and strength. He loses most of the physical battles and Tanus tries to avoid those and relies on  positioning, skating and playing with the stick instead. He might have problems transitioning to pro hockey due to his lack of size.

However center has a good skating ability, he accelerates quickly, is agile and his top speed seemed to be above average already. Tanus is also really impressive with the puck. He is a really good stickhandler who protects the puck well on tight space and his passing play looked excellent. Even though he could have played more simple game occasionally and could have carried the puck for a shorter period of time, he still showed impressive hockey IQ for a player of his age.